5 Weeks Of My Life.

One month and one week of my life was spent in Korea this summer and I am still undecided as to whether the time flew by or actually felt like a long time away from home.
So many things happened while I was in Korea and I took over 1,000 photos.  Unfortunately, I can't put all of those here on my blog... so, here are a few of my most memorable (but not all) moments from my time in Korea.

The best mushrooms I have ever eaten in my life!

Our first adventure as a group in Nowan District. 

Reading to the 2nd graders.

2nd grade class.

Ariella and I shopping in Dongdaemun. 

Dinner with my first host family.

My first host mom's nephews. 

After volunteering at the Silver Senior Center.

An underground flower market in Namdemun. 

Bathroom in the Bean Pole.

6th graders.

Me with my first host mom. 

Starbucks.  Mmm. 

With part of my second host family at the National Museum of Korea.

Squatty Potty!

Sometimes the subway gets PACKED. 

I'm just a crazy cat lady. 

The Hello Kitty Cafe!

My Hello Kitty coffee. 

Going to see Harry Potter with my host sisters. 

Temple stay.. misery, but we still smiled.  Kind of. 

Bowing. 

Trying the candy they make on the street out of honey and corn starch. 

Patbingsu... heaven on earth.

With Alex and some of the students.

Playing "Quidditch" on our last day of teaching!

Sunset in Seoul. 

Second host family. 

Dr. Fish in Myeongdong. =] 

Science Festival. 

Eating Vietnamese food with my host family. 

Trick Eye museum. 

Palace with Trey. 

Err... can't remember where this was at. 

With Ariella's first host sister.  She is adorable. 

At Korea University. 

It took multiple attempts to get this shot! 

Jet Lag...

Jet lag sucks.

I'm tired, but not sleepy.

I can't eat at normal times because my internal clock is off.

Plus, I'm dizzy and nauseous.

Hopefully it will pass within the next 2 days seeing as I'm supposed to get back to my regularly scheduled activities by then.  Posts, videos and photos from my trip to Korea will follow shortly.

Kimchi and...

Have you ever had kimchi with steak?

I have!

For dinner at Outback Steakhouse, here in the wonderfully humid and rainy S. Korea, I had a New York Strip Steak (medium) with fried rice, veggies and kimchi.  They import their steak from Australia here, but I could not taste the difference at all.  The experience at this restaurant was quite similar to what one might come across in America, except for the kimchi of course.  But, my host family did order the appetizer AFTER dinner which was interesting.

Earlier today I had mentioned that I was dreading going to church.  The experience was actually great.  I made a few new Korean friends around my age who have lived in Canada and the United States, so their English is awesome.  They were really nice and sat with me during the English services upstairs (it was pre-recorded on DVD).

After our "service', we joined everyone else downstairs in the cafeteria for lunch.  Lunch was 2,000 WON (less than $2), which consisted of rice, kimchi, some sort of pork, some sort of vegetable and squid soup.  What a deal, right?  Lol.

Then, we went to the cafe located inside the church and had some coffee while I waited for my host mom to finish socializing with her friends.  Overall, I was at church from 10am until 2pm, but the time went by so quickly.

Tomorrow I have to teach as usual from 9am-2pm and afterwards, a few of us are getting together to celebrate the 4th of July.  Hopefully we will have lots of fun in Itaewon!

No Time...

I was anticipating being able to write consistent blog posts while here in S. Korea, but this does not seem to be the case so far.  Every day I'm either busy with teaching or my host mom is taking me one place or the other.  Today we will be going to church from 10am-1pm.  I am not looking forward to this at all.  Right now I just need a full day to rest and do nothing.

Although my host mom has been feeding me a large variety of Korean food, I almost feel as though my being here is an excuse to eat American food.  Not once have I requested American food, but it is purposefully fed to me anyway as though I won't try the Korean food.  Tonight we are apparently going to Outback Steakhouse, even though I know the family is not a fan.  I'm so confused.

The upcoming week should be fun.  Ariella and I have mapped out our week of souvenir shopping and sight seeing.  I'm also now officially connected to the wi fi in the house now which is great.  I no longer have to steal wi fi from the neighbors and have frustrating Skype calls due to little service.

It is unusually hot and humid today with an extra dose of rain.  Now I need to go find my most non-revealing, dressy church clothes that I won't die of heat in.  Wish me luck.

Already Homesick.

I really wanted to post some coherent blog posts about what I'm doing in Korea, but I just can't seem to.  I'm either too tired, too busy or too homesick (already!).

The one thing I have been able to do is take plenty of pictures and videos.

I expected the culture to be different here, but I did not expect it to be THIS different.  My host mom speaks some English and is using me as a tool to learn more, which is fine.  But, she also says some very blunt and inappropriate things to me at times (by American standards).

For example, today she told me that I looked fat in the pictures I sent before I came to Korea, but in person I am skinny.  She has also told me multiple times that pictures of me are not pretty at all... but I am pretty in person.  I'm not sure how to take that.  Along with that, she has said that I have no talents because none of my "hobbies" include playing an instrument, singing or whatever else is considered a decent hobby in Korea.  She also keeps comparing me to her daughter who is studying English in Australia which is very frustrating.  

She is very conservative and I really have not gotten to know her son very well yet.  All I know is that he likes to drink and ride horses.   But, he does not like to play video games.

My host mom's husband works all during the week and usually comes home on Saturday nights.  I am really nervous to meet him.  He only stays for one day and then returns to work on Monday morning.  I'm still not sure what he does, but she said that his job is 2 hours away.

It's only day 4-ish here and I really miss my other friends here (trying to coordinate to see them is a hassle and our host parents keep telling us we can't go out with each other).  I especially miss Nick, the cats and our bed (I swear my bed here is made of solid wood with a thin comforter over it).

I know that this is all a part of the experience and Korea seems really interesting and beautiful.  But, I know that by the end of these 5 weeks I will be extremely happy to be home.

In Korea: Day 1 & 2

Well, this is technically day 3 of the trip if you count the entire day spent traveling.

I am tired and already slightly home sick which is awful.  I have been with my first host family for about 5 hours now and I am in dire need of contact with someone who speaks English as their native language.

I wish I had it in me to write a really long post about what these past 2 days have been like, but I am exhausted.  Here is a video of the hotel room we stayed in last night.  I have a ton of other clips that need to be put together which will be coming soon.

Tomorrow...

The journey begins.

And Awesomo really really wants to go too.

See you in Korea!

"Do's and Don'ts"

This morning I received an email from the city regarding my trip to Korea (which is exactly 2 weeks away).  It contained all of the social do's and don'ts of the Korean culture.

There are a lot.

Do: Dress modestly and conservatively for business occasions.  Wear subdued colors such as black and blue.

Do Not: Wear jewelry if you're a man (I'm sorry, this one made me giggle) aside from a wedding ring or watch.

Do Not: Sit unless you are told where to sit (for meals).

Do: Refuse the first offer of second helpings, out of politeness (???).

Do: Eat everything served to you (this might be an issue for me...).

Do Not: Tip.  It's not customary.

Do Not: Criticize Korean cuisine (uh- duh).

Do: Wrap gifts nicely, but only in red, yellow or pink.  Never in green, white or black.  (I was not planning on wrapping gifts, but now I guess I will... or I'll have someone else wrap them since I'm awful at it).

Do: Feel comfortable discussing the following topics- sports (particularly soccer- uh oh), South Korea's economy and international achievements, the health of one's family, kites (I'm serious...), and personal hobbies.

Do Not: Confuse South Korea with other Asian countries (considering that I am half 'other kind of Asian' I should have no problems spotting the differences).

Anyway, those were just a few of the items from the list.  I'm sure that I will make at least one social faux pas while there.

In other news... still sick.  Still tired of being sick.  Hope it's gone by the end of the week, because I have gotten absolutely nothing productive done in the past few days.